The Briscoes
The Briscoes are the tag team of Jay Briscoe (Jamin "Jay" Pugh) and Mark Briscoe (Mark Pugh). They are currently wrestling for the American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). The Briscoe Brothers are best known for their work in Ring of Honor and, along with Christopher Daniels are the only wrestlers currently working for the company who were featured on its first-ever event on February 23, 2002. Other than an 18-month absence from August 2004 to February 2006, the brothers have been focal points of the company throughout its history, feuding with some of their biggest stars. The Briscoes are record eight-time ROH World Tag Team Champions and two-times IWGP Tag Team Champions. They have also held the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship once and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship twice with Toru Yano. They have also won numerous tag team titles on the independent circuit. As singles competitors, Jay is a record-tying two-time ROH World Champion, while Mark won the 2013 Honor Rumble. Early life The Pugh brothers, Jamin (Jay) (born January 25, 1984) and Mark (born January 17, 1985) grew up in Laurel, Delaware. As high schoolers, both received honorable mention All-State honors their junior and senior years for football, Jay as a fullback and a linebacker and Mark as a tight end and a linebacker. At one point, both were signed to play for Wesley College (Delaware), a fact even used in wrestling storyline at one point, at ROH Beating the Odds, to explain an absence from which they were returning. The brothers first became interested in wrestling in their youth by watching WWF on one of the two channels their television could receive. Originally, they practiced wrestling moves with one another on a trampoline before the family built a wrestling ring in their backyard. From the beginning, the two of them worked on honing their craft, taping their moves and trying to improve them. Despite the fact that their dad was a coach for their high school's wrestling team, they did not participate in amateur wrestling in their high school years. Their first foray into professional wrestling came with the East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA), while they were still in high school. While their mother, Jana, was in line to purchase tickets to attend a wrestling event, a promoter for the ECWA approached her and asked if her sons had a tape of themselves wrestling. This led to the brothers debuting for ECWA on May 20, 2000 under the ring names "Jay and Mark Briscoe". Professional wrestling career Combat Zone Wrestling (2001–2002, 2003) Jay and Mark Briscoe made their debuts for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) at Delaware Invasion on January 20, 2001, being brought in to job as part of a three-on-one handicap match against Trent Acid. At the inaugural Best of the Best event, a show somewhat atypical of CZW in that it is a tournament spotlighting athletic junior heavyweight wrestling as opposed to violent hardcore matches, the two advanced past the first round in a three-way match with Nick Mondo where the stipulation was whoever took the fall would be eliminated. They were then matched against each other in the second round, with Jay winning and advancing further. This match was seen by fans as the best of the tournament, and seen in retrospect as having been responsible in large part for helping launch the brothers' careers, as they were new to the independent circuit and very young at the time. After losing in title opportunities at Breakaway Brawl and A New Beginning, the brothers won the CZW Tag Team Championship on July 14, 2001, as they defeated the original H8 Club at H8 Club: Dead? They lost it, however, in their first defense, to Johnny Kashmere and Justice Pain on July 28, 2001 at What About Lobo? Mark wasn't used for several months after that, but Jay continued on as a singles wrestler in that time, even facing Justice Pain for the CZW Heavyweight Championship at September Slam on September 8, which he did not win. At the end of 2001 and into 2002, CZW's territory (that is, the area at which they held the majority of their events) was shifting from Sewell, New Jersey to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in order to hold events regularly at the old ECW arena, beginning with December 15's Cage of Death 3. At this event, they faced Nick Gage and Nate Hatred, but wore masks and were identified as The Midnight Outlaws. This was likely to get around the fact that Jay was only 17 and Mark only 16 at the time; this meant, as they were under 18 years of age, that they could not legally work in a sport wrestling exhibition in the state of Pennsylvania. As CZW regularly began holding shows in the Philadelphia area, the Midnight Outlaws made appearances at the next four CZW events. At A Higher Level of Pain on April 13, 2002, Jay appeared across the ring from the Midnight Outlaws, tagging with Ruckus against Mark and someone else. By this time, he had turned 18. Jay and Ruckus were won the match, and this was the last time either Jay or Mark appeared for CZW until April 12, 2003, where Jay and Mark both returned for Best of the Best 3. Jay was a surprise entrant after being taunted by A.J. Styles, and Mark filling in for the injured Ruckus. Jay advanced to the semi finals, where he lost to B-Boy, and Mark lost his fill-in match to Sonjay Dutt. The two faced off with the Backseat Boyz for the CZW World Tag Team Championship at Truth or Consequences on June 14, but failed to win the belts. Jersey All Pro Wrestling (2001, 2002, 2005) The Brothers appeared for Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW), in the ECW arena, on March 24, 2001 at March Madness Night 2, losing to Insane Dragon and Dixie in the opener. It is unclear how, if at all, JAPW's ownership and management worked around Pennsylvania's child labor law, as both brothers were underage at the time of this and two subsequent appearances in the old ECW arena. They made three other appearances in JAPW in 2001, all against Insane Dragon & Dixie – one a victory, one that ended in a no contest due to outside interference, and the last an unsuccessful challenge for Dragon and Dixie's JAPW Tag Team Championship on June 15 at Here to Stay. They made subsequent appearances for JAPW in 2002, first losing to The S.A.T. on May 3 at May Madness. They then re-entered the JAPW Tag Team Championship picture, wrestling in a three-team match against Da Hit Squad and Wasted Youth, the team of Insane Dragon & Deranged, to fill the vacant championship at Unfinished Business on July 13, 2002. It was Jay and Insane Dragon, however, who emerged as champions, after scoring simultaneous pinfalls on the members of Da Hit Squad. The six men went on to meet in a rematch of sorts at the next event, Royal Consequences 2 on August 10. Jay and Dragon defended the title against Da Hit Squad and the team of Mark and Deranged in a tables, ladders, and chairs match, which Da Hit Squad won. Two shows later, on September 20 at Family Crisis 2, Da Hit Squad successfully retained the title over the Briscoes in a regular match. The Brothers did not appear for JAPW again until late 2005, again in a tables, ladders, and chairs match for the tag team title, this time against the teams of Teddy Hart and Homicide, the Backseat Boyz, and The S.A.T.. The match, which took place at JAPW's 8th Year Anniversary Show, was won Hart and Homicide. At the next show, Fall Out, the S.A.T. defeated them and thus became number one contenders to the tag team championship. More recent JAPW appearances came in early 2006, losing along with the Outcast Killers to the S.A.T. once again at Wild Card II in a tag team title match, and then at Brotherly Love to the team of Sabu and Sonjay Dutt, a match they also lost. In October 2008, the Briscoes competed at JAPW's 11th Anniversary Show against LAX (Homicide and Hernandez). During a brawl outside the ring, Mark suffered a large gash on the side of his head. Ring of Honor (2002–2004) The Briscoe Brothers have wrestled most extensively for Ring of Honor. Jay wrestled on ROH's first-ever show, The Era of Honor Begins, losing to Amazing Red. Mark seconded him to the ring but could not wrestle because of Pennsylvania's child labor law (most of ROH's earliest shows took place in Philadelphia). Jay wrestled each of ROH's next four shows, against Spanky, Tony Mamaluke, Doug Williams, and James Maritato, losing to all but Mamaluke. At Honor Invades Boston, when Mark was able to perform, he defeated his brother, in the second-to-last match of the night. The Brothers went on briefly to feud against each other, during which time Jay scored a non-title win over ROH Champion Xavier at Glory By Honor. This earned him a title shot at All-Star Extravaganza, which he did not win. At Scramble Madness, back in Boston, the brothers' storyline involved them picking their own partners for a tag team match. Jay picked past foe Amazing Red, whereas Mark's partner was Christopher Daniels, as he seemingly joined The Prophecy. Daniels pinned Red to win the match. The Brothers' feud against one another concluded at the First Anniversary'' Show'', when Jay defeated Mark in a match, and the two hugged afterward to signify their reunion. Mark never explicitly left the Prophecy, but in forming a team with his brother, he stopped teaming with them. Newly united as a team in ROH, the Briscoes began, in 2003, to feud with A.J. Styles and Amazing Red, then holders of the ROH Tag Team Championship, losing in title matches at Night of Champions, The Epic Encounter, and Death Before Dishonor, which by stipulation was their last match for the title for as long as Styles and Red held it. Before the last match, a poll was held on ROH's website, asking the fans if they wanted to see a third match between the two teams. Over 80% of respondents voted 'yes'. At Beating the Odds, they returned from a brief absence to score a pair of wins which were depicted in the storyline as being improbable, Mark over ROH veteran B.J. Whitmer and Jay in a Four Corner Survival match with ROH World Champion Samoa Joe, NWA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles, and Chris Sabin, pinning Sabin to earn a future title shot at Joe. At ROH's Maryland debut, Tradition Continues, Joe retained over Jay. The Brothers took part in the gauntlet match at Glory By Honor 2, which was held to fill the tag team championship left vacant by Red suffering a serious knee injury. They defeated and eliminated the Special K team of Hydro and Angeldust as well as The Ring Crew Express, before being eliminated by the other Special K team in the match, Izzy and Dixie, due to outside interference from Angeldust. After Izzy and Dixie later won the tag team title, the Brothers were granted a shot at it, at Main Event Spectacles. The reason given in the storyline was they were given the shot since they only lost in the gauntlet match because Special K cheated. In the opening segment of that event, they were aligned with Jim Cornette, because, in the storyline, Cornette wanted to create new champions. They attacked his former client, Samoa Joe, who Cornette abandoned since he already was a champion. They went on to win the belts later in the show. At The Conclusion, The Battle Lines Are Drawn, and The Last Stand, which was by stipulation Joe's last shot at the tag team title for as long as the Briscoe Brothers held it, they retained the belts over Joe and a different partner each time, A.J. Styles, Bryan Danielson, and Jerry Lynn respectively. Since Joe took pinfalls at The Conclusion (to Mark) and The Last Stand (to Jay), both brothers subsequently earned shots at his world title. Both fell; Mark at Final Battle 2003 and Jay at At Our Best in a memorable and bloody steel cage match. They dropped the tag team title to the CM Punk and Colt Cabana at ROH's Chicago-area debut, ROH Reborn: Stage Two, working in ROH for the first time as outward heels. At the next show, Round Robin Challenge III, the title switched three times among the teams in the round robin challenge, the Second City Saints (Punk and Cabana), the Briscoe Brothers, and the Prophecy team of Dan Maff and B.J. Whitmer. The Briscoes defeated Maff and Whitmer in the fourth match of the night to win the title for a second time, and then lost it back to Punk and Cabana in the main event. The Brothers both participated in ROH's inaugural Survival of the Fittest tournament, with Mark going over Alex Shelley in his qualifier and Jay falling to Homicide. Mark did not, however, win the elimination final. After losing a two out of three falls tag team title match to Punk and Cabana at Death Before Dishonor II Part 1, ending that feud, they lost in separate singles matches to members of The Rottweilers the next night. Between that and their victory in tag team action at Testing the Limit, it is likely that a feud was planned between the Briscoes and the Rottweilers. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2003, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011) The Briscoe Brothers have a somewhat checkered history with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). They have, numerous times, been announced for events at which they ultimately did not perform, such as when they were scheduled for a PWG World Tag Team Championship match against Roderick Strong and PAC at Giant-Size Annual #4, but wound up being replaced by then-PWG World Champion El Generico and Kevin Steen. The Briscoes have been involved with the promotion since its early days, debuting at PWG's fourth-ever show Are You Adequately Prepared to Rock? in October 2003, losing to Super Dragon and B-Boy. Due to the costs of bringing them in from the East coast and the sabbatical from the sport the brothers took, they would not appear again until May 20, 2006, at Enchantment Under the Sea, falling to Cape Fear (Quicksilver and El Generico). At the 2006 Battle of Los Angeles, the Briscoes' numerous no-shows were worked into the company's kayfabe when PWG announced days before that they had been pulled from the tournament as punishment. They wound up appearing anyway, attacking Commissioner Dino Winwood on Night One. The next night, they wrestled in a three-way tag team match for the PWG World Tag Team Championship against Homicide and B-Boy and defending champions Arrogance (Chris Bosh and Scott Lost), who went on to retain the titles. The Briscoes next appeared on May 19 and May 20, 2007, to participate in the inaugural Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, created to declare new World Tag Team Champions. After defeating the Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) in the Opening Round and the Havana Pitbulls (Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero) in the Semifinals, they lost in the Final Round to Roderick Strong and PAC. At ¡Dia de los Dangerous! on February 24, 2008, "Commissioner of Food and Beverage" Excalibur announced that the Briscoe Brothers would return on March 7. That night, the Briscoes challenged for the World Tag Team Championship, but were unable to defeat The Dynasty (Joey Ryan and Scott Lost), following interference from Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli, members of Human Tornado's stable. The Briscoes were scheduled for the 2008 DDT4, but Mark was unable to perform, causing Jay to wrestle in singles matches against Austin Aries on Night One and a Necro Butcher Rules match against Necro Butcher on Night Two. After failing to show up at the fifth year anniversary show Life During Wartime on July 6, 2008, Excalibur announced that Jay was "fired" from the company (even though PWG has never been contractual) and wouldn't be allowed to come back. However, nearly two years later on March 20, 2010, it was announced that the Briscoe Brothers would return to the company on April 10 to challenge The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) for the World Tag Team Championship. On April 10 at Titannica, the Briscoes made their long-awaited return to the promotion, but were defeated by The Young Bucks. The next month, the brothers competed in the fourth annual DDT4, defeating Kamikaze (Akira Tozawa and Yamato) in the opening round before being eliminated by eventual winners ¡Peligro Abejas! (Paul London and El Generico). On March 4, 2011, the Briscoe Brothers were entered into DDT4 once more, this time losing to the Nightmare Violence Connection (Akira Tozawa and Kevin Steen) in the first round. Sabbatical from wrestling (2004–2005) The brothers went on an extensive hiatus from professional wrestling, beginning in August 2004. As was announced before ROH's Scramble Cage Melee, Mark was injured in a motorcycle accident between Testing the Limit and that show, and thus both brothers had left Ring of Honor. As Jay didn't wish to return to wrestling without his brother, they stopped taking bookings from any company. After making their returns in mid-2005 to Pro Wrestling Unplugged, followed in late 2005 at ROH, the company they had regularly been working for at the time of Mark's accident, hyped their return at the Fourth Anniversary Show in February 2006. Pro Wrestling Unplugged (2005–2006) The Brothers worked for Philadelphia-based Pro Wrestling Unplugged (PWU) since at least September 17, 2005, when they defeated The S.A.T. and All Money is Legal to win the then-vacant PWU Tag Team Championship. They held that title until April 22, 2006, when they dropped it to the S.A.T. After further appearances in 2006, which were all matches they lost, the Briscoe Brothers entered PWU's Pitbull/Public Enemy Memorial Cup on October 20. They advanced past the first round match, winning over the Krash Krew, but in the course of this match, Mark was injured when Jay inadvertently struck him in the mouth with the backswing of a chairshot. Mark was taken to the hospital after the match and subsequently lost a number of teeth and sustained damage to his gums as well. In their second-round match of the tournament, against Homicide and Ricky Reyes, Mark was replaced by Joker, who subsequently turned on Jay to cost them the match. They made one further appearance, at an event cross-promoted by PWU and Juggalo Championship Wrestling. This was a four-way singles match involving Jay and Mark and the members of the S.A.T. to determine the number-one contender to the PWU World Heavyweight Championship, won by Jose Maximo. Return to ROH (2006–present) The Briscoe Brothers returned to ROH at the Fourth Anniversary Show in 2006, forcibly including themselves in a match that was at first between the teams of Tony Mamaluke and Sal Rinauro and Jason Blade and Kid Mikaze. They won in their re-debut. They then feuded for the tag team championship again, but much as they had against Styles and Red three years earlier, they lost in three shots against the champions at the time, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong, at Ring of Homicide, Destiny, and Unified. As before, the storyline was that this cost them any chance at the belts for as long as those champs held them. It was around this time that the Brothers became enforcers for Jim Cornette's heel character as ROH Commissioner, fighting battles against his enemies, most notably Homicide and his partner Samoa Joe at Glory By Honor V: Night Two and in anything goes, falls count anywhere, elimination match at Dethroned. During this time, they also feuded with Kenta and his partners Davey Richards and Naomichi Marufuji, facing Kenta and Richards at Time to Man Up and Kenta and Marufuji at Glory By Honor V: Night One. At Fifth Year Festival: Chicago, the Brothers finally reached the top of the mountain again, defeating Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal to win the tag team championship. Their reign, however, proved to be brief, as they in turn to dropped the belts to Naruki Doi and Shingo Takagi in their first defense, at Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool. After this match, the storyline was that the brothers felt they needed to "man up" due to losing the title in their first defense, just as they had the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship earlier in the year. Thus, the two faced off what was described as "one time only" at Fifth Year Festival: Finale. The match ended in a draw, with both of them unable to answer the referee's standing ten-count. At the next event, All Star Extravaganza III, they won the title back from Doi and Shingo, but in the course of the match Mark was seriously injured attempting a Shooting Star Press to the floor. Mark was kept in the ICU of hospital for two nights, and suffered a seizure there before eventually being released. Two weeks later, at Fighting Spirit, Mark made an unadvertised and unannounced return, entering through the crowd to come to his brother's side during his match with Erick Stevens against Kevin Steen and El Generico. The storyline was that with Mark out and injured, Jay was tagging with Stevens as a replacement. The No Remorse Corps then ran in and attacked Stevens, and Jay was momentarily left without a partner until Mark entered. Mark eventually suffered the fall in the match after several bumps to the head. They then began to feud with Steen and Generico. After successfully retaining the tag title over Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal at ROH's first pay-per-view Respect is Earned, Steen and Generico showed up and immediately demanded their title shot; the scene followed with a wild brawl all over the building. The feud was followed on both ROH's standard canon, with Steen defeating Mark at A Fight at the Roxbury, and the PPV series, with the Brothers successfully retaining the tag team title against Steen and Generico at Driven, after which Steen repeatedly attacked both brothers with a ladder. The Briscoes then retained over Steen and Generico in a steel cage match at Caged Rage and in ROH's first-ever ladder match at Man Up. After the ladder match, Jimmy Jacobs and the other members of The Age of the Fall attacked the Brothers and hanged Jay upside-down from the apparatus which held up the belts. It was announced that this would not be included in the footage shown on PPV, although it was soon after shown on ROH's video wire and was included with the DVD of the event. After Mark was again injured in a motorcycle accident, though considerably less serious, Jay was alone in a match held at the taping for ROH's fourth PPV, Undeniable. This was an anything goes match against Necro Butcher of the Age of the Fall, which he did not win. On November 30, the Briscoes had a match which was taped to be included in Undeniable, a tag team title defense against Davey Richards and Rocky Romero, which they won. At Final Battle 2007, the Briscoes lost the ROH World Tag Team Championship to Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black of The Age of the Fall, but won it back on April 12, 2008, at Injustice, defeating Richards and Romero, who had since won the championship from Jacobs and Black. On April 20, ROH's official website reported that Mark had sustained a wrist injury due to Jacobs stabbing him with his trademark rail spike and stood to miss up to six months. The next day, the company announced that Jay and a partner of his choosing would continue to be recognized as the tag team champions. This partner was later revealed to be Austin Aries. After their successful defense against Jacobs & Black on May 10 at A New Level, the championship was declared vacant. Mark returned to active competition at Northern Navigation on July 25, teaming with Jay and Aries to defeat The Age of the Fall in a no disqualification match. On December 19, 2009, at Final Battle 2009, the Briscoes won the ROH World Tag Team Championship for a record sixth time by defeating The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards). They went on to lose the championship to the Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) at the The Big Bang! pay-per-view on April 3. On August 23, 2010, Ring of Honor announced that the company had signed the Briscoe Brothers to contract extensions. The Briscoe Brothers ended their feud with the Kings of Wrestling on December 18 at Final Battle 2010, where they teamed with their father Mike "Papa" Briscoe in a six man tag team match, where they defeated Hero, Castagnoli and their manager Shane Hagadorn. On January 25, 2011, Ring of Honor announced that the Briscoe Brothers had signed new contract extensions with the promotion. On March 19 at Manhattan Mayhem IV, the Briscoe Brothers turned heel after suffering an upset loss against the All Night Xpress (Kenny King and Rhett Titus). On September 17 at Death Before Dishonor IX, the All Night Xpress defeated the Briscoe Brothers in a ladder match to become the number one contenders to the ROH World Tag Team Championship. At Final Battle 2011 on December 23, the Briscoes defeated Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the seventh time, turning back to faces in the process. On May 12, 2012, at Border Wars, the Briscoe Brothers lost the title back to Haas and Benjamin. On December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, the Briscoe Brothers defeated S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino) and Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander in a three-way match to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the eighth time. They lost the title to Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly on March 2, 2013, at the 11th Anniversary Show. On April 5 at Supercard of Honor VII, Jay defeated Kevin Steen to become the ROH World Champion. Jay made his first successful title defense on May 4 at Border Wars 2013 against Adam Cole. On June 22 at Best in the World 2013, Jay successfully defended the ROH World Championship against Mark. The following day, Jay made another successful title defense against Matt Hardy. During the weekend ROH shot injury angles with both Briscoes. On June 25, it was reported that both Jay's and Mark's contracts with ROH had expired and would not be renewed. On July 3, Ring of Honor stripped Jay of the ROH World Championship. On July 16, ROH announced Mark as the sixteenth and final entrant in a tournament to determine the new ROH World Champion, while also noting that Jay was slated to be out of action for three to six months. Mark was eliminated from the tournament in his first round match on July 27 by Adam Cole. Jay returned to ROH on September 20 at Death Before Dishonor XI to hand the title belt to the winner of the tournament, Adam Cole, who proceeded to attack him afterwards. On September 28, Mark won the Honor Rumble to earn a shot at the ROH World Championship, but was later that same event defeated by Cole. On October 26 at Glory By Honor XII, Jay entered a storyline, where he introduced his own ROH World Championship belt titled the "Real World Title", claiming that he was the true champion since he had never been defeated for the title. Jay received his shot at the ROH World Championship on December 14 at Final Battle 2013, but was defeated by Cole in a three-way match, which also included Michael Elgin. On February 8, 2014, Jay defeated Cole to retain his version of the ROH World Championship. The two world titles were unified in a ladder match on April 4 at Supercard of Honor VIII, where Cole was victorious, following outside interference from Matt Hardy and Michael Bennett. On May 17, the Briscoe Brothers took part in the ROH/New Japan Pro Wrestling co-produced War of the Worlds iPPV, where they unsuccessfully challenged Bullet Club (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. On September 6 at All Star Extravaganza 6, Jay recaptured the ROH World Championship from Michael Elgin, becoming only the second two-time holder of the title. He lost the title to Jay Lethal on June 19, 2015. On Best in the World '16, Jay failed to regain the ROH World title against Jay Lethal. The two shook hands afterwards. At Field of Honor The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) was in a Tag Team Gauntlet match was they were unsuccessfully of winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship which included The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian), War Machine (Hanson and Ray Rowe), The All Night Express (Rhett Titus and Kenny King), Chaos (Gedo and Toru Yano), Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara and Leon St. Giovanni and Shaheem Ali. At All Star Extravaganza VIII The Briscoe teamed with Toru Yano and was defeated by Kushida, ACH and Jay White in the first round of the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament. At Final Battle The Briscoe unsuccessfully against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. At January 7, 2017 Jay defeated B.J. Whitmer in the first round of the Decade of Excellence. He defeated Jay Lethal in the second round. He was defeated by Christopher Daniels in the final round. On March 11, 2017, The Briscoes and Bully Ray defeated The Kingdom to win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Dalton Castle and The Boys on June 23 at Best in the World. Full Impact Pro (2006–2007) The Briscoe Brothers began regularly working for ROH's sister promotion, Full Impact Pro (FIP), in September 2006, after two appearances in May. They won the FIP Tag Team Championship from The Heartbreak Express in their fourth event with the promotion, Southern Justice, after previously winning a number one contenders match over Davey Richards and Colt Cabana. On November 11, at Evening the Odds, the Briscoes were aligned with newly crowned FIP Heavyweight Champion Roderick Strong as members of his team for a five-on-five elimination match, where the three of them were the only survivors. After Necro Butcher beat Mark and Mad Man Pondo fought Jay to a no contest on February 2 at Dangerous Intentions '07, the two of them, known as a team as The Deathmatch Kings, fell in a tag title match the next night at In Full Force '07. Both brothers competed in the FIP Florida Heritage Title Tournament held at the next event, the Eddie Graham Memorial Battle of the Belts, but Mark fell to Delirious in the first round and Jay to Roderick Strong in the semifinals. Their feud with the Deathmatch Kings continued at International Impact weekend, April 20 and April 21, culminating in the Brothers retaining the tag team title in a bar room brawl on night two. The Briscoes further went on in 2007 to retain the title in matches over the likes of Tyler Black & Marek Brave, Black & Trik Davis, and The Irish Airborne. On November 9, at Unstoppable 2007, their year-long title reign ended, when they dropped the belts to Kenny King and Jason Blade. Pro Wrestling NOAH (2007) The Briscoe Brothers toured with Noah in 2007, winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on January 7, 2007 from the team of Takashi Sugiura and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. However, they quickly dropped it two weeks later to Ricky Marvin and Kotaro Suzuki, essentially making them transitional champions. They returned for three shows in July, the first a time limit draw against KENTA and Taiji Ishimori, the second a victory alongside Nigel McGuinness over Takuma Sano, Takashi Sugiura, and Tsutomu Hirayanagi, and the third a loss with McGuinness to Mitsuharu Misawa (NOAH's owner), Yoshinari Ogawa, and Ricky Marvin. They have since gone back for further tours. World Wrestling Entertainment (2009) On November 24, 2009, the Briscoe Brothers had a tryout for WWE at their SmackDown! and ECW tapings. The following month they were invited for a tryout at Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory. As revealed by the Briscoes in a YouTube video, they were eventually turned down by WWE as they were not "cosmetically pleasing" to suit WWE's programming. Return to Combat Zone Wrestling (2010–2011, 2012) On December 11, 2010 at Cage of Death XII The Briscoes Returned to CZW challenging newly crowned CZW World Tag Team Champions Philly's Most Wanted of Blk Jeez and Joker to a title match in January. On January 7, 2011 at "From Small Beginnings Come Great Things" Philly's Most Wanted retained the CZW World Tag Team Championships against the Briscoe Brothers in a no contest. The Briscoes then challenged Philly's Most Wanted to a no disqualification rematch. On February 12, 2011 at "Twelve: The Twelfth Anniversary Event" The Briscoe Brothers defeated Philly's Most Wanted to become the new CZW World Tag Team Champions. They lost the title back to Philly's Most Wanted on May 14, 2011. The Briscoes returned to CZW again on November 10, 2012, facing Dave and Jake Crist in a losing effort. New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016–present) The Briscoes made their debuts for New Japan Pro Wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, teaming with Toru Yano in a victory over Bullet Club members Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, and Yujiro Takahashi to become the first NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. The three made their first successful title defense the following day against another Bullet Club trio of Fale, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, the Briscoes and Yano lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Fale, Tonga and Takahashi in their second defense. The Briscoes and Yano regained the title three days later at The New Beginning in Niigata. On February 20 at Honor Rising: Japan 2016, the Briscoes and Yano lost the title to Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. The Briscoes returned to NJPW on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall, where they defeated Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. They made their first successful title defense on August 14 against the Bullet Club team of Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi. On September 22 at Destruction in Hiroshima, The Briscoe Brothers defeated reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks for their second successful title defense. On October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling, they lost the title back to Tonga and Roa. Personal lives In May 2013, Jay caused a controversy on his Twitter account, when he threatened to "fucking shoot" anybody that tries to "teach his kids that there's nothing wrong with sex marriage". He had previously also made other derogatory comments about homosexual people on his Twitter account. Pugh first apologized for the comment on ROH's website and again at a house show on May 11, while also agreeing to donate his full pay from the next two shows to the Partners Against Hate (PAH) charitable organization. Their favourite bands are Queen and Elton John. In wrestling * Double-team finishing moves ** Briscoe Bottom (Double sitout side slam) – early 2000s ** Cut-Throat Driver (Mark) / Diving leg drop (Jay) combination ** Shooting star press (Mark) / Diving leg drop (Jay) combination ** Spike Jay-Driller (Springboard spike double underhook piledriver) ** Springboard doomsday device, sometimes with Mark doing a 180° turn in mid-air * Double-team signature moves ** Double forehand chops using both hands to an opponent in the corner ** High elevation double hip toss ** High elevation double military press drop ** Pendulum backbreaker (Jay) / Diving knee drop (Mark) combination ** Redneck Boogie (Crucifix powerbomb (Mark) / Neckbreaker (Jay) combination) ** Sidewalk slam (Mark) / Diving leg drop (Jay) combination ** Simultaneous running low-angle big boot / running low-angle dropkick combination to the head of an opponent seated in the corner ** Spinebuster (Jay) / Springboard spinning wheel kick (Mark) combination ** Three-point stance followed into a double shoulder block ** Uppercut (Mark) followed by a leg lariat (Jay) followed by a jawbreaker (Mark) followed by a jumping big boot (Mark) and finished with a reverse STO (Jay) * Jay's finishing moves ** Crucible (Sitout suplex slam) ** Jay-Driller (Double underhook piledriver) ** Military press dropped into a Death Valley driver ** Diving senton – early 2000s * Jay's signature moves ** Arched big boot ** Cannonball ** Death Valley driver ** Diving leg drop ** Elevated cutter ** European uppercut ** Frog splash ** Full nelson slam ** Hangman's neckbreaker ** Hurricanrana ** Muscle buster ** Reverse STO, sometimes into the turnbuckle ** Sitout inverted suplex slam, sometimes from the top rope ** Superkick ** Three-quarter nelson suplex * Mark's finishing moves ** Cut-Throat Driver / Mark-Out (Cut-throat inverted Death Valley driver ** Froggy Bow (Frog splash elbow drop) * Mark's signature moves ** Baseball slide ** Crab Walk (Mark walks sideways on the middle rope before hitting a diving senton) ** Crane kick ** Diving blockbuster from the apron ** Fisherman buster ** Moonsault ** Redneck Kung Fu (Multiple throat thrusts followed by a leg lariat to the back of the opponent's head) ** Saito suplex ** Shooting star press, sometimes springboarding to the outside ** Slingshot double foot stomp ** Springboard cutter ** Superkick ** Ura-nage * Manager ** Jim Cornette ** Uncle Jethro ** Poppa Briscoe * Nicknames ** "Dem Boys" * Entrance themes ** "Gimme Back My Bullets" by Lynyrd Skynyrd** "The Cross" by Nas ** "Sleeping All December" by Death Valley Driver ** "Reach for the Sky" (Jay Briscoe) by Adam Massacre ** "Anthem of Sussex County Chicken" (Mark Briscoe) by Adam Massacre **'"Fight"' by Justin Ostrander, David Dorn, Bryan Edwards and Mark Lonsway (NJPW) Championships and accomplishments *'Combat Zone Wrestling' ** CZW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) *'Extreme Rising' **Match of the Year (2012) vs. The Blk Out vs. Los Dramáticos **Extreme Rising Moment of the Year (2012) Debut in a Cage match against Blk Out and Los Fantásticos. *'Full Impact Pro' **FIP Tag Team Championship (1 time) *'Jersey Championship Wrestling' **JCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Mark *'New Japan Pro Wrestling' **IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times) **NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Toru Yano *'NWA Wildside' **NWA Wildside Tag Team Championship (1 time) * Pro Wrestling Illustrated ** Ranked Jay #'7' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2015** Ranked Mark #'49' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2013* ** Ranked Jay #'31' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016 and Ranked Mark #'83' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016* ** Ranked Jay #'81' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016 and Ranked Mark #'97' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017* *'Pro Wrestling NOAH' ** GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) * Pro Wrestling Unplugged ** PWU Tag Team Championship (1 time) * Real Championship Wrestling **RCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) **RCW Tag Team Championship Tournament (2009) *'Ring of Honor' **ROH World Championship (2 times) – Jay **ROH World Tag Team Championship (8 times) **ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bully Ray **Honor Rumble (2009,1 2013) *'Squared Circle Wrestling' **2CW Tag Team Championship (1 time) * USA Xtreme Wrestling **UXW Tag Team Championship (1 time) * Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards ** Tag Team of the Year (2007) 1The Briscoe Brothers were the co-winners of the 2009 Honor Rumble due to it using a tag team-oriented format rather than a singles wrestler-oriented format. References Category:Wrestlers Category:NJPW Roster Category:Pro Wrestling Noah Roster Category:Gaijin Category:NJPW teams and stables Category:Tag Teams Category:Pro Wrestling Noah teams and stables Category:NOAH teams and stables